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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Is WH Press Secretary Josh Earnest Now Trolling the GOP?

Is he playing one dimensional checkers here or eleven dimensional checkers? It may not matter. Whether or not he means this as a mere straight line or if he's playing a Machiavellian game, the effect will be the same. Sort of like the rhetoric of Trump himself.

"White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s call to ban all Muslim immigrants from entering the US “disqualifies him from serving as president” during Tuesday’s press briefing."

"The first thing that a president does when he or she takes the oath of office is swear an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States," he told reporters. "And the fact is that what Donald Trump said yesterday disqualifies him from being president. And for Republican candidates to stand by their pledge to support Mr. Trump, that in and of itself is disqualifying."

"Trump released a statement on Monday calling for "a total and complete shutdown" of Muslims immigrating to the U.S. until "our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." His remarks were widely condemned by Democratic and Republican leaders alike."

"Reporters spent much of Tuesday's briefing pushing Earnest for the White House's response, and the press secretary was unsparing in his criticism of the GOP frontrunner. He said that Trump's "offensive bluster" endangered national security and spurred Islamophobia within the US."

"The Trump campaign for months now has had a dustbin of history-like quality to it, from the vacuous sloganeering to the outright lie to even the fake hair—the whole carnival barker routine we've seen for some time now," Earnest told reporters. "The question now is about the rest of the Republican party and whether or not they're going to be dragged into the dustbin of history with him."

"The press secretary accused other prominent national Republicans of following in Trump's lead, calling out House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) for saying he would vote for him if he becomes the GOP nominee and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) for once referring to himself as white supremacist David Duke "without the baggage."

"He also insisted that any 2016 candidate who failed to condemn Trump's remarks or vowed to support him as the nominee should be disqualified from ascending to the presidency."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/white-house-trump-muslims

This is just great. I mean on a factual basis, Earnest hits a home run. But on the other hand if the goal is to get Republicans to reject Trump is a call from the Obama Administration the most persuasive voice?

Uh, no. Actually the opposite. Indeed, it will likely have the effect of pushing the base even further into Donald Trumps arms. Well played Mr. Secretary.

Also well said Senator Harry Reid who tweeted this.

"Racism has long been prevalent in Republican politics. Only difference now is that Trump is saying out loud what other Rs merely suggest."

https://twitter.com/SenatorReid/status/674245594668494848

On a related point,:Tom Brown commented thus:

"Mike, if Trump survives this, he's only going to get worse. The GOP appears to be "drawing a line in the sand" ... but I doubt it'll be the last line they draw. Trump will kick the sand in their faces."

Many GOPers are drawing a line-even Cheney though someone should ask if he likes Trump for also supporting waterboarding-Paul Ryan, Morning Joe, Reince Priebus. But not everyone. Not by a long shot.

Rand Paul's basic answer was that he thought of it first:

"I think it’s a mistake to base immigration or moratoriums based on religion," Paul said. "But you know, I’ve called for something similar, which is a moratorium based on high risk."

"Paul's legislation, which he introduced last month, is intended to prevent immigration to the United States from certain countries in the Middle East. It would have required the Department of Homeland Security to "suspend issuance of visas to nationals of countries with a high risk of terrorism" until additional security screenings could be implemented."

"And so we have examined where the high risk of terrorism comes from and it’s about 34 countries," he continued in the radio interview. "And I would put a pause on all immigration from those 34 countries.”

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rand-paul-trump-muslim-ban

Ted Cruz and Ben Carson had answers that were far from unequivocal nos to a Muslim ban. And how about this?

"Some big GOP players say Trump has a point

"Established party figures are stopping short of condemning Trump's proposal to halt all Muslims from entering the U.S."

"While many in the GOP are fiercely condemning Donald Trump for his proposal to temporarily ban all Muslim from entering the U.S., there’s a whole lot of other Republicans who are saying, hey, he has a point."

"From established party figures such as Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum to the more hardcore right-wing personalities such as Ann Coulter, numerous Republicans are either stopping short of condemning Trump's audacious proposal or are outright applauding the billionaire businessman as finally offering a commonsense solution to terrorism threats."

"They are offering a glimpse into why Trump has continued to zoom ahead in the polls, despite a series of jaw-dropping comments that the many in the media, and now the White House, have presented as not only offensive but disqualifying for the leader of the free world."

"Santorum, who is at the bottom of the polls in the GOP race, aligned himself with the man at the top in a radio interview on Sirius XM’s “Breitbart News Daily” Tuesday, while stopping short of endorsing his proposal. The former Pennsylvania senator said that he hasn’t proposed banning all Muslims, “but a lot of them.”

“I’ve proposed actual concrete things and immigration law that would have – not the effect of banning all Muslims, but a lot of them because we need to get rid of the visa lottery system, which is the way in which a lot of radicals have come into this country,” Santorum said.

I mean do you think Trump is zooming in the polls because he's saying stuff nobody agrees with?

Santorum says no to banning all Muslims just lots of them. It's been something I've insisted on throughout the Trump phenomenon. Trumpism is the ideology of the GOP put to a bullhorn rather than a dog whistle.

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